Earth and Fire
by Jaydeis
Summary: The journey of a young girl named Hilary and her unusual Sandshrew.


She didn't want to listen to it anymore. The trails of tears could be seen on her face, though she couldn't really tell if she was crying because she was tired or because she was afraid of what it meant. She pulled her thick, warm quilt over her head as a desperate attempt to create a refuge for herself, but it was useless. Their voices were barely even muffled.

She had no idea how long they had been fighting. How many hours? How many nights? She didn't even know some of the things they were saying, and she was fairly certain she didn't want to. She could hear it in their voices, the way they screamed at each other. This was no "lover's quarrel" as her sister Flora had assured her before. The two could not stand one another.

The word "divorce" came up in the argument, and a cold feeling spread over her. That was the word she dreaded. It was not the first time it had been mentioned, but they had said it so frequently lately that she feared they might actually consider it. The heat of their argument rose in intensity, and she curled up into a tighter ball beneath her covers.

There was another word or two she couldn't understand. How much longer would this continue? Tears began building up in her eyes again, and soon she could feel them sliding across her skin towards the mattress.

"Are you okay, Hilary?" a soft, familiar voice asked from above.

"I-I'm fine," she responded, though her voice gave away with a few choked sobs that she was not.

She could hear shifting in the bed above her, and soon she could see two legs descending down the ladder of the bunk beds. A girl in her teenage years stepped onto the carpet below and then sat on the edge of the lower bed. She reached out with one hand, moved aside the quilt until the younger girl's head could be seen, and gently stroked her hair.

"It's okay, Hilary. I can hear them too."

Hilary open her eyes, which were red from crying, and looked up. "Do you think they'll really get a divorce?"

They both were quiet for a minute. The argument could still be heard downstairs. It grew louder as one could be heard stomping up the stairs, then stopped suddenly when the door to their parent's bedroom slammed shut. Both girls jumped at this loud noise.

The older one looked down. "I... I think it's inevitable at this point."

Hilary was quiet for a moment before letting out a few more sobs.

"It's alright, Hilary! Everything will be alright," she said in a gentle voice. She lifted up the quilt and climbed under, wrapping the little girl in a tight hug.

"Ariel..."

"This is what big sisters are for," Ariel said, still speaking in her softest voice possible.

Hilary began crying again, her tears being absorbed almost immediately by Ariel's shirt. Her sister rubbed the back of the little girl's head consolingly. A few more shouts came from their father downstairs, and then all was quiet. The argument had ended, the house was silent. From outside, however, the chirps and cries of Pokémon of the night could be heard, creating a strange lullaby.

"Let's talk about something," Ariel suggested, trying to take Hilary's mind off the subject.

"Like what?"

"Anything." She paused for a moment in thought. "How about the green Sandshrew? Have you seen it lately?"

Hilary laughed, though tears could be seen in the corners of her eyes. "You'll never leave me alone about that, will you?"

Ariel smiled. "I will when I see it for myself."

"Well, as a matter of fact," Hilary started, attempting to dry her eyes with the back of her hand, "I did see it today! I was eating lunch on the big rock and it came right up to me like it expected me to feed it."

"And did you?"

"No!" She paused. "Well, okay, maybe a little."

Ariel laughed. "I'm sure we'll all see it some day." She kissed her little sister on the forehead.

"I know you don't believe me. Could we just talk about something else for a while?"

"All right. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything," Hilary said, curling against her big sister's chest. "What about you? You're gonna be out of school soon, right?"

"That's right. About a week and a half, and I'll be done. Unfortunately, the last week is the hardest. Final exams and all," Ariel sighed.

"I know you'll do great on them!" Hilary said, looking up with glimmering eyes. "You're the best! I wish I was as smart as you."

Ariel gave a weak smile. "Oh, Hilary, you're so cute sometimes. Thank you."

"Just think, once you're done we'll have the whole summer to spend together! We can go swimming at the beach, or go exploring in the woods, or..." She stopped when she noticed a sad expression on her sister's face. "Ariel, what's wrong?"

The two stared at one another for a moment before Ariel said in a soft but shaking voice, "I won't be around here this summer."

Hilary was confused. "What? Why not? What are you talking about?"

"You know how I want to be a Pokémon biologist, right?" Hilary nodded. "Well, _you_ might think I'm the greatest there is, but I don't think I'll be able to make it into any of the schools I want to at this rate. Everyone's just so competitive these days."

Tears were starting to form in Hilary's eyes again. "Ariel..."

"But, I heard that Professor Willow is offering an internship for one student, and I think I have a good shot at it. There's a series of projects the student has to complete, multiple field reports on a Pokémon colony being the largest. But nearly all of them require in some way or another that the student also be a trainer... oh, Hilary, please don't cry!" Ariel said, suddenly feeling fresh tears soak into the front of her shirt.

"I don't want you to leave!" she said, surprisingly loud compared to the hushed tones they had been using.

"And I don't want to leave!" Ariel responded, stroking the back of her sister's head again in an attempt to calm her.

"Then _don't!_"

Ariel looked hurt. "Hilary, you're going to be ten in half a year, right? You know things in this world aren't that simple. You don't want to stay here forever, do you?" Hilary gave a muffled response that Ariel recognized as a 'no'. "Well, neither do I. I want to become a Pokémon biologist, and you know that. This could be my chance to live my dream. And I don't want to leave behind my favorite little sister, but that's the price I have to pay."

Hilary looked up at her sister again. "Could you wait a year, just until I can become a trainer, too?"

A smile across Ariel's face. "Oh, Hilary. I wish I could, but I'd be so behind that I wouldn't have a chance at the internship then."

Hilary nodded, trying to fight the smile that was forming on her own lips. "Well, then, I'll just have to follow you! Even if I'm a year behind, I'm sure I can catch up! And we'll be the most unstoppable pair of trainers the world's ever seen!"

Ariel laughed. "I'll be waiting for you, then." She playfully messed up her sister's hair.

"Ariel?"

"Yes?"

Hilary looked at her sister with large eyes. "Could you tell me a story?"

Ariel sighed, though it was playful and gave no sign of her not wanting to tell the story. "Haven't you grown out of bedtime stories yet?"

Hilary leaned against her sister's chest like it was a pillow. "Not yours. Yours are the best."

Ariel smiled, holding back tears. She nodded. "Alright, then. Where should I start?"

"Wherever you want."

She paused a moment to think. "Okay. I think I know a place." She shifted so she was sitting up against Hilary's pillow, and Hilary contented herself to keeping her head in her sister's lap. "Once upon a time, there was a glorious castle built of white stone that floated in the air just as a bird or a cloud would..."

* * *

Some scenes are not easily forgotten.

Hilary, for instance, would remember every detail of Ariel's departure for years to come. She remembered it was a beautiful day, very warm but not humid at all. The bright purple flowers were beginning to wither and fall off the large rhododendron bushes in front of their house, but they were still pleasant to look at. Trees spread their branches over the road that wound its way past their house, leaving enough room between them to let the cloudless sky behind them be seen. A gentle breeze was blowing in the smell of flowers from Flora's garden.

Ariel was standing in the middle of the road, waving. She was wearing her favorite shirt and skirt, but Hilary had already known she would do such. She had two messenger bags, their straps crossing her chest in an 'X' pattern, as well as a backpack, a waist pack, and a drawstring bag hanging around her neck like a long necklace. Hilary smiled at this, knowing that their family was well known for not traveling light, and hoped her sister would not be too weighed down by all the luggage. Ariel still held a photograph in her left hand of the whole family, mother and father and all seven children, which had been taken in front of the rhododendrons only a few minutes earlier. A second one was in the hands of their mother, taken right after the first so that they both would have one. She waved with her right hand, and a Zubat fluttered around it. This was Ariel's pet Pokémon, Luna, which she had taken care of since before Hilary could remember. The sun was making her eyes hard to see since it created a glare on Ariel's glasses, but Hilary was certain she saw the glimmer of a tear.

All five of Ariel's other siblings were shouting out goodbyes, and so occasionally were their parents, but Hilary only waved. She had already said her farewell, and just wanted to treasure this last moment of seeing her sister for a whole year.

"I'll just have to follow you," Hilary repeated to herself. "Just wait, Ariel. In one year, your little sister will be a trainer, and we can travel the world together!"

Earth and Fire  
Chapter 1  
Trials of Hilary! Catch the Green Sandshrew!

A year had passed since that day. It was, however, the worst year Hilary could remember.

In the first month, Hilary could already feel herself growing restless. She spent a lot of times admiring a painting of a Linoone, one of her favorite Pokémon, which Ariel had made for Hilary's seventh birthday. The painting, after all, was the largest thing she had to remember her sister by, and she missed her sister. Most of her energy, however, she had put into her favorite hobby, fortune telling. She began begging all her siblings to let her read their fortunes, and often she would predict their futures multiple times a day. However, her brother Lawrence had refused every time, but this only inspired her to pester him more. She was more stubborn than he was and certain she could make him give in.

The second month, however, when the sweltering heat of summer had reached its peak, was when things started getting bad. That was the month when her parents had reached their limits with each other and announced they were getting divorced. Her mother moved out almost immediately. The only thing stopping the parents from forcing their children to choose sides was that the home she had bought was far too small for six children to live in and neither parent wanted to separate their children. Well, at least there were some things the two could still agree on.

The summer moved on unpleasantly. They still visited their mother on the weekends, and that was the only time they received a well-cooked meal during those months. Their father had little cooking skill. Not that it mattered, since between the divorce and work he didn't have much time to spend on any sort of housework. Flora, being the second oldest of the seven, was the only one who could make a good meal but refused to cook anything but her favorite foods. Since these were mostly vegetables with some soy and tofu tossed in for variety, which added up to possibly the most undesirable dishes any young child could imagine, the other five usually settled on heating up the frozen dinners their father bought then. This was the first thing that caused Hilary to openly complain about Ariel's absence, considering that she had been the one who always made dinner whenever their mother couldn't.

By the time fall came, the divorce was settled and things had quieted between their now separated parents. Things weren't starting to get any better, though. Her father had more free time on his hands, but this he soon devoted to visiting bars in pursuit of good times and perhaps a girlfriend. Her two remaining older siblings, Flora and Lawrence, and her younger brother, Pyral, saw this as an opportunity to get out of the house more often as well, so after school Hilary was often left home with her two little sisters, Marinel and Starli. Both were content with leaving Hilary alone to dream about traveling with her sister, side by side, away from the crumbling home she had been left behind in.

Snow had blanketed the ground just a few days before Christmas, which was the first thing that pleased Hilary in a while. Winter was her favorite season, and all the siblings but Flora were just as eager as Hilary to play in the snow. They lured Flora out with a snow caricature of her which was anything but flattering. This led her right into their trap, and snowballs flew at her from all sides. Reminders of that day remained on their front lawn for almost the entire season. Still, Hilary's thoughts would not be budged from her older sister, and on the night of her birthday she lay awake wondering if the snows were hindering her progress. On that night she had a vivid dream of the life of a Pokémon trainer, a life that she would now be old enough to live.

The snow remained thick on the ground long after the spring crocuses had pushed their way through, but eventually the winter gave up and the world was given a breath of warmth and life. They spent more and more time at their mother's, since there was little point in being at their father's save for the extra room. He was rarely around, and there was much more to eat at their mother's house. They crowded their mother's home, however, and she soon grew very frustrated with them all. Flora made things worse by deciding it was a good time to suffer from a bad case of heartbreak. Lawrence also complicated things by having a series of early growth spurts, and their mother had to buy him more new clothes in a few months than he had needed in years. The woman was more than a little irritated by them all and the only way she could seem to release that anger was by yelling at them for whatever reason she could come up with.

After waiting out months of tension at home, Hilary was losing her patience. It wouldn't be long before summer began, which was when Professor Willow, the only Pokémon professor in the region, had starters available for beginning trainers. So, bad as the time was, Hilary decided to announce her desire to become a Pokémon trainer. The reaction was worse than she had expected, but she did find that there was another thing that her parents could still agree on. They both opposed the idea of Hilary becoming a Pokémon trainer.

Her mother responded in the only way she could without screaming at the top of her lungs, which was to give Hilary a lecture. She started by making clear that the only reason they had allowed Ariel to leave was because she needed to be a trainer if she wanted the internship and the internship was her best chance of getting a good career in Pokémon biology. Hilary, however, had no such reason to leave, and her mother took this chance to question her on what she planned to do with her life. Did she really expect to make a living from her fortune telling? She also noted that, unlike Ariel, Hilary was still young and had such little experience in taking care of herself. The world was a dangerous place, and not all trainers were trustworthy, and Hilary could end up hurt or worse, and how did she expect to eat when she could barely even boil water, and Hilary didn't know the first thing about Pokémon training...and so on and so forth Hilary's mother rambled. By the time her mother had finished with the lecture, Hilary was miserable. She hadn't expected her parents to be bothered by the idea at all, never mind be completely against it.

However, there was something interesting in the way her father responded. He, too, lectured Hilary like always, covering the exact same subject her mother did. However, he did not lecture her for anywhere near as long as her mother had even though he usually had lengthier lectures than his former wife did. Instead he wrapped his up quickly, and gave her a single strange offer: If she was able to catch the green Sandshrew, he would talk her mother into letting her be a trainer, and even pay for the registration himself.

The green Sandshrew, as Hilary had first called it, was one she claimed to have first seen when she was six years old or perhaps even younger. Everyone had a good laugh, thinking immediately that this was something she had made up, but this had only inspired Hilary to insist further that the green Sandshrew was real. Her parents thought little of it, since it was merely just an invention of their daughter's mind and she would forget about it sooner or later. Hilary, however, refused to stop believing the green Sandshrew existed, though at some point she gave up trying to convince her family to also believe it was real. Often times she would set up complicated traps to try and capture it, but only caught funny looks and laughter from her siblings and neighbors.

Her father had decided to solve one or both of the problems by offering this deal to her. She would either have to give up the silly idea of being a trainer since the only way to do such would be to complete an impossible task, or she would have to give in and admit that she had never actually seen a green Sandshrew. Hilary's reaction, however, was anything but what he had predicted. She eagerly accepted the challenge and went back to building complicated traps. This caused him to wonder for a moment if maybe, just maybe, she actually had seen a green Sandshrew all the times that she claimed she had. He dropped the silly theory quickly.

So, that was how Hilary spent the rest of her spring. Summer had arrived, however, and she still didn't have her Sandshrew.

"But that's going to change today," Hilary told herself, as she crouched in the bushes. "There's no way that the green Sandshrew can escape me this time!"

She had set up a large snare on the path, triggered by a series of trip wires set on the ground in a tight giant mesh, and if she calculated the weight sensitivity correctly then a single step from the Sandshrew was all that would be needed to set it off. The whole thing was camouflaged, of course, and she had a feeling that if she hadn't set it up herself she would not know where the ropes were. In the center was a small dish with some honey in it. It was one of her sister Flora's specialties; she made a large amount of delicious honey with the aid of their father's Beedrill from the nectar of flowers in her garden. It was perhaps the only thing about her cooking that her siblings loved. A long time ago, however, Hilary had discovered that the green Sandshrew adored it and honey had been her bait of choice ever since. The only problem was that the Butterfree adored it as well, but that wouldn't be a problem since most were in her sister's garden and she had set up two things to ensure they would stay away: A large net stretched across the top of the path with flowers weaved into the empty spaces that repelled Butterfree with their scent, and a feeder full of honey designed for only Butterfree to feed from set up just out of sight of her trap.

"Nothing can possibly go wrong with this one," Hilary assured herself. "I'll finally catch that Sandshrew, and then I can become a Pokémon trainer!"

She leaned back against a nearby tree and started to daydream. She could see it already. She would travel the world with her big sister, explore the highest mountains and the deepest caves, meet new friends and maybe even run into old ones, battle her way to fame and glory, sing songs, maybe even become the champion...

"...wait, sing songs?" she said, snapping out of it suddenly. Someone was singing, and Hilary knew exactly who. "Starli! Where is she?"

She poked her head out of the bushed and looked around for her little sister. There she was! She was wearing a little blue dress with a large star embroidered on the front, and her purple hair was tied back in two little pigtails. It wasn't too hard to spot her since she was walking in the middle of the path mere inches away from Hilary's trap.

"Oh, Starli, look out!" Hilary shouted, jumping to push her little sister out of the way before she set off the trap. However, in doing so, her left foot fell straight into the snare and the trap went off. Within the blink of an eye Hilary was dangling from a tree by a rope tied around her left ankle.

Starli looked up. "Huh? Hilary, how did you get up there?"

"A trap of mine backfired. Could you help me down from here?" Hilary asked, managing to put on a smile despite her situation.

"Sure!" Starli responded. The little girl began climbing up the tree. "Are you still trying to catch the green Sandshrew?"

"Of course I am! In fact, I'm sure I would have gotten it this time if you hadn't came along."

"Oh! Sorry!" Starli said, scooting out on the branch. She quickly began untying the knot that attached Hilary's trap to the tree branch.

Hilary let out a long sigh. "It's not your fault. I should've told you that this was where I was going to set up toda-_aigh_!" she screamed as Starli released the untied rope. She hit the ground with a thump.

"Hilary, why are you still trying to catch the green Sandshrew? It doesn't really exist, does it?" Starli asked, beginning to climb back down the tree.

Hilary was now trying to untie the rope from her ankle. "Of course it does! Come on, Starli, do you really think I would be lying to you after all this time?"

"I dunno. Mom and Dad say you are. And so do Flora and Lawrence and Marinel and Pyral," Starli said, stepping onto the ground. She picked up a white bandana from where it had fallen on the ground when the trap went off.

"Well, they don't have any idea what they're talking about. I see the green Sandshrew around here all the time!" Hilary declared before she returned to untying the rope. She grew frustrated when the knot refused to budge and attempted to pull the rope off by force. "Darn it, I had no idea this knot would tie so tight!"

"Lemme try! Here, I think this fell off," Starli said, handing the white bandana to Hilary. As she knelt down to attempt untying the knot, Hilary shook the dirt off the bandana and then tied it onto her head so that it would keep her dark purple hair from getting in her face.

Starli lost her patience with the knot as well. "Maybe we should go see Lawrence. He knows what to do in situations like this."

"Yeah, I guess that's our only option," Hilary said with a sigh, as she stood up and dusted herself off.

Starli took notice of her sister's clothes. "Hilary?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you wear those colors again?"

Hilary smiled. "They're Capricorn's lucky colors! Or that's what I've read, anyway." She had made sure that morning, just like every morning, to incorporate white, black, green, and brown into her outfit. There was, of course, the white bandana, and also a light brown shirt and black pants. However, since it was too hot for the green coat she usually wore, she had to let it only be represented by her necklace, which was a jade circle of about the same size a Hypno's pendulum.

The two started walking down the path, rope still dragging from Hilary's foot. "Do they really bring you good luck?"

"I dunno, but they haven't brought me bad luck yet, so..."

"What about getting caught in your own trap just now?"

"That doesn't count!"

replacemewithabreakplease

They found both of their brothers in the living room of their house, playing a video game together. Pesto, the family's pet Meowth, was curled up between them to take advantage of their body heat. On the floor sat a Plusle and a Minun, both of which had recently been given to Lawrence for his twelfth birthday. It was a tradition in their family. Flora had received a Roselia on her twelfth birthday and Hilary was certain Ariel would also have been given a Pokémon on her twelfth birthday had she not already owned Luna at the time.

"Lawrence?" Hilary asked. He didn't show any response, so she yelled, "Hey, Larry!"

"Go away, Hil. Can't you see I'm busy?" he responded, not turning his attention from the television.

Hilary took a look at the game they were playing. It was a Pokémon racing game, with Pyral playing as a Charizard and Lawrence as the legendary Zapdos. "Yeah, real busy. Could you please help me?"

Lawrence grumbled and paused the game. "Alright, what's your problem?"

"I got caught in my own trap," she said, lifting up her leg so that the rope dangling from her ankle could be seen.

He laughed. "Oh, that's all? Well, then, this will just take a second." He grabbed the knot and began attempting to loosen it. However, the harder he pulled, the less the knot wanted to budge. "Hilary, how on earth did you make a knot this tight?"

"I'm not sure, to tell the truth."

"It's gonna take a miracle to untie this, or maybe..." He was struck with an idea. "Plusle! Minun! Come here!"

The two mice scurried over while everyone else watched curiously. "What're they gonna do?" Starli asked.

"Guys, see if you can chew through this rope," Lawrence said to the mice. They both set to work, and soon their little teeth had chewed through the rope in enough places to free Hilary of the knot.

"Free at last!" Hilary said, rubbing the place where the knot had been in an attempt to help the blood flow.

"So, I'm guessing you're still determined to catch a green Sandshrew?" Lawrence said, winding the remaining rope around his arm.

"She sure is!" Starli said.

"Yeah! In fact, I'm going to go reset this trap. This one's too perfect. There's no way the Sandshrew'll be able to get out of it!" Hilary said.

"Hilary, we all know you're making it up. Why won't you just admit it already?" he said, looking at her with concern. "I mean, don't you want to be a Pokémon trainer?"

"Of course I do!"

He grinned. "And I think I can start to understand the appeal. I mean, Plusle and Minun have proved more useful in the past month than I expected them to ever be. Like when we had that blackout, and I needed some light to work on my homework. Remember that, guys?"

"Plusle plus!" the first one squeaked.

"Mi-nun!"

"So, I can't really understand why you'd give it up just because you don't want to admit you made up the green Sandshrew." He paused and sighed. "Tell you what: if you give it up now and tell the truth, I'll try and help you out with talking Mom and Dad into letting you be a trainer. Okay?"

Hilary shook her head. "No way! I have been telling the truth, and you'll be sorry you doubted me when I finally catch that green Sandshrew! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a trap to reset!" She took the rope from her older brother, and headed out the door.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Starli said, following her big sister.

Lawrence sighed. "Oh well. I tried. Hilary's so stubborn."

"Yeah, no kidding," Pyral responded, adjusting his glasses. "Come on, let's finish our race!" Lawrence returned to his seat and the two went back to playing their game.

Back outside, Hilary was halfway to the spot where she had set up her snare when she noticed Starli was following her.

"Hey, Starli, how would you like to help me catch the green Sandshrew?" she asked, smiling at her little sister.

"Sure! I mean, if it really exists, then catching it should be a lot of fun!" Starli said, walking beside Hilary.

They reached the spot in the path when Hilary noticed something. Sitting in the middle of the path was the dish she had put the honey in, and it had been licked clean!

"Look!" she said, running up to it and picking it up. "The green Sandshrew's been here. And the dish is still a bit wet from being licked clean. That means it can't be far!"

"But how are we going to find it?" Starli asked.

"We're not," Hilary said, as she dove into the bushes and pulled out her messenger bag. She reached inside it and pulled out a jar of her sister's honey. "It's going to find us!"

"Oh!"

She set the dish back down on the ground and poured some of the honey into it. She then put the honey jar back in her bag and headed back into the bushes. "Come on, hide here with me. The Sandshrew should come by soon."

"Okay!" Starli said, and she sat in the bushes as well. They both peered out in tense silence.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, something stirred in the bushes across the path from them. A Sandshrew, yellow-green in color, leapt from the bushes and landed near the dish. It stopped, sniffed the dish carefully, then took a taste of the honey. It gave a delighted squeal and continued to lick up the honey.

Starli had stopped paying attention, so Hilary tapped her shoulder. "Starli, look," she whispered. "There it is."

Starli turned around and gave a surprised gasp. "There _is_ a green Sandshrew!" she exclaimed.

The Sandshrew jumped in surprise, and started running away. Hilary leapt out of the bushes with a large butterfly net in her hands. "Come back here!" she yelled out as she began chasing the Sandshrew. She dove with the net, but it missed the Sandshrew by mere inches and the mouse Pokémon escaped into the forest. "No! Darn it!"

Starli climbed out of the bushes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare it off."

Hilary dropped to her knees. "It... it's not your fault, Starli. This would be so much easier if I could just borrow one of Dad's old Pokéballs."

"Why don't you? I don't think he'd mind."

Hilary laughed. "Believe me, I already asked him, and he _does_ mind. They're probably a reminder of the life he left behind." She stood up. "Oh well. Come on, help me reset this trap. Maybe we can have it in place before the green Sandshrew gets too far away."

"Maybe you shouldn't use a trap," Starli suggested.

"What? What are you talking about?" Hilary asked, staring at her sister in confusion.

"Well, if the Sandshrew hasn't been caught by a trap yet, and you can't use Pokéballs, then maybe you should try something else."

Hilary paused to think about it. "Huh. You know, you have a really good point. It's just like that old saying about flies and vinegar." She pulled the honey jar out again, and spooned more into the dish. Then she sat down with the dish in her hands. "If he wants this honey, he'll have to come right up to me to get it."

Starli sat in the bushes. "Okay. And I'll just sit here and be quiet until you catch it, okay?"

The two stayed in place for a while. Starli fell asleep after a while, and Hilary could hear her soft snoring. Sleep began to overtake her as well, and she slapped herself in an attempt to keep awake.

"Darn it, it'd be such a nice day for a nap," she yawned. "It'd be so great, napping under a big tree; me, Ariel, and my green Sandshrew..."

She started daydreaming again. She could see herself at a nice big picnic, sitting on a red and white checkered blanket that was spread out over the grass, eating a big sandwich and drinking a glass of cold, sweet lemonade. The Sandshrew was next to her, nibbling on a biscuit dripping with sweet honey, and on the other side a Linoone was taking a nap. Across the blanket was her big sister Ariel, pausing from her own sandwich to give a Pokétreat to Luna, who was resting on her shoulder in the best way the Zubat could. After eating lunch, the two lay in the shade of an enormous tree, Pokémon still sitting on them, and watched as the clouds drifted by in the sky. Soon they all fell asleep, blanketed by one another and the warm sun.

"Hey, Hilary, wake up!"

Hilary sat up in surprise. Her other little sister was standing over her, holding a tackle box and little fishing pole. In her daydreaming, she had fallen asleep. The dish was completely clean.

"Hello, Marinel," Hilary sighed, sitting up. "Did you have fun at the pond today?"

Marinel smiled. "Oh, yeah! I saw so many Yanma and Lotads there, and I even caught a Poliwag! If you were there, I bet we could have carried it home and kept it in the bathtub or something. Oh, you have to come with me next time so we can go canoeing!"

Hilary stood up. "We'll see. What time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner. Why?"

She sighed. "Oh, nothing. Wake Starli up and take her back to the house. I'm going to be here a while longer."

"'Kay," Marinel responded, taking notice of the youngest of them napping in the bushes. She shook her sister awake, and the two talked a bit before both went back to the house. Hilary watched them leave before returning to resetting her snare.

"That didn't work. Guess it's back to the trap for me."

* * *

When she approached the house, she could already smell something cooking, though it was probably Flora making something that Hilary didn't want to eat. She entered, pulling off her bandana out of habit more than anything else, and noticed her five siblings watching television together, though Flora and Lawrence were arguing over which channel to watch. They grabbed the remote from each other, and each time they did the program would switch between a Pokémon battle and a sitcom.

Marinel was the first one to notice Hilary return. "Hey, Hil! Guess what?" She didn't wait for a response. "Dad left us a frozen lasagna to make tonight!"

"Oh, so that's what's cooking, then?" she said with a grin. She had a weakness for the dish.

Flora looked up. "Yes. In fact, it should be done by now. Could you go take it out of the oven since you're up?" While she was speaking, Lawrence took the remote from her and changed the show back to the Pokémon battle.

Hilary sighed. "Fine, fine." She stopped to watch the battle for a moment. It was a Linoone fighting a Raticate. The Raticate leapt forward and its fangs barely missed the Linoone. A trainer gave a command, and the Linoone charged... and there was laughter as the show switched back to the sitcom. Hilary walked into the kitchen, silently hoping that the Linoone won.

She bent over and looked into the oven. The lasagna was definitely done, and it looked delicious. She stood up straight and grabbed two potholders off the wall. She then reached into the oven and used the potholders to pick up the dish the lasagna was in.

However, in pulling it out, her arm pressed against a metal bar on the edge of the oven's opening, and she yelped in surprise and pain. She did not, for some reason, drop the heavy lasagna, and when her brothers and sisters ran in she was still setting it down on the table.

"Hilary, what happened?" Flora asked, the concern quite obvious on her face.

Hilary didn't respond, and just ran to the sink, running the burn under cold water. She winced a bit, but it started feeling better. "I accidentally brushed the metal in the oven," she finally responded as she turned off the water.

Flora looked at Hilary's arm. A line of skin had raised up where she had touched the hot metal. "Oh! Hang on, I'll get some some Rawst Berry ointment." She stood up, giving the other four room to crowd around their sister and get a look at the burn.

The hair raised on her skin as the Rawst Berry ointment was mentioned. Hilary could remember a time when she was very little and a neighbor's pet Growlithe had accidentally given her a bad burn on her leg. They applied the ointment to the burn, and it healed perfectly, but she had screamed at the top of her little lungs when it was first put on. The ointment felt at least ten times worse than the burn itself at first. "It's not that big a deal," Hilary said quietly. "I mean, it's such a tiny burn..."

"Yes, it's small, but it's bad, and we don't want you to have an ugly little scar," Flora said, removing the ointment from one of the cupboards. She knelt down and prepared to smear some of it over the burn. "Now, this is going to sting a little."

Hilary winced as the substance came in contact with her skin, and tears which had been forming at the corners of her eyes now were forced down her face. A little had been an understatement. It felt as if acid had been poured on her burn. However, she held still and bit her lip, refusing to let herself cry out in pain. Soon the pain receded and was replaced by a pleasant cooling sensation. Hilary allowed herself to breathe normally again.

Flora stood up and smiled at her little sister. "See? Not so bad. It's amazing how much you've grown up, Hil. I remember when you used to whine like a baby Eevee when you had to get a shot at the doctor's office."

Hilary wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She didn't respond. Though it was starting to feel better, there was still a painful stinging reminder of the horrible feeling that had just past. So she decided she would try to forget about it. With a broad smile and a surprisingly cheerful tone, she said, "Let's go dig into that lasagna! I'm starving!"

None of the others objected to this, and within a minute the television was turned off and the six of them took their usual seats at the dining room table. They each served themselves a large helping of the lasagna, and no one argued over the fact that Hilary took a bit more than her fair share. Despite the fact that she was short and somewhat scrawny, they had all accepted long ago that Hilary had the largest appetite among them. However, Lawrence was starting to catch up quickly, and he took a helping of almost the same size.

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if you became a trainer, Hilary," Flora commented as she served herself a much smaller piece. "Otherwise, between you and Lawrence, there's not going to be much food left for the rest of us."

The others laughed as Hilary stuck her tongue out at Flora and continued eating her dinner in large bites. She was finished long before the others, and so they all requested that she feed the Pokémon. Hilary complained, but she already knew there would be no way to talk herself out of the chore. Besides, there was nothing bad about the chore except that it was more work. So, while the others continued eating, she went into the kitchen, soon followed by the Pokémon of the household.

She went in the order that the food dishes were lined up in, which meant that Pesto was the first one to get his food. The Meowth was obviously quite hungry, and she had to stop him from eating the brown pellets before she could fill up his dish the whole way. Then there was Flora's Roselia, whose food was a much greener color than the rest and smelled a little like fertilizer. After that was Lawrence's Plusle and Minun, who ate the same kind of food in bowls that were so close together that the two ended up eating cheek to cheek. On the counter there were two bowls that she filled up. One was for her father's Beedrill, whose food had a pleasant honey smell to it, and the other was for her father's Magneton, which ate something that looked like metal shavings. She had always wondered how it could possibly consume the strange food considering it had no mouth, but in some way or another it disappeared every evening. The Beedrill and Magneton were the only two Pokémon her father had kept with him from his days long ago as a trainer. He had owned few others since he was not much of a collector, but he had given all but his two favorite away to breeders and collectors and other trainers.

Feeding the two reminded Hilary about this, and she looked next to the the kitchen sink where an old photograph was framed. She picked it up and brushed off the dust that had gathered on the glass. In the photo a younger version of her father stood surrounded by Pokémon. Closest to him were his two favorites, the Beedrill and Magneton, both in better fighting form than they were presently. To his left were a Skarmory and an Arcanine, and to his right were an Aggron and Milotic. Along the edge of the frame eight badges had been set, all from gym leaders who had long since retired.

"I really do want to be a great trainer like you were, Dad," she said to herself softly so none of her brothers or sisters would hear. "I wanted to wait a few more years, but I can't stand it here. Especially not without Ariel." She set the picture back in its original location.

"But I also think I'm ready to be a trainer. I'm not such a little girl anymore," she continued saying to herself, touching the burn on her left arm. "I know you weren't serious when you said that you would help me when I catch the green Sandshrew. But maybe if I do catch it, you'll understand how much I've grown and how badly I want to be a trainer..."

Hilary stared outside. Night had fallen, and she could see lights flicker outside from Volbeat and Illumise in the woods. Her mind wandered back to the trap. Normally she would leave the trap overnight and check it in the morning for the Sandshrew, but she couldn't put it out of her mind. She glanced at the clock. There was plenty of time to check her snare and come back before her curfew. Checking once would be enough to satisfy her.

So, after grabbing her flashlight and coat, she told her siblings she was going outside for a while.

"It's not bad out here tonight!" she said to herself, stretching her arms out as she took a deep breath of the cool night air. The moon was nothing but a crescent and would disappear within a few nights, but it still cast a mystic glow on the clouds around it. No stars could be seen, just the varying shades of darkness as layers overlapped layers of clouds. A breeze could be heard whispering in the branches of the nearby trees, and farther away the buzzing of Nincada and other bug type Pokémon could be heard. Other houses in the neighborhood still had their porch lights on, and the road was lit up by streetlights at two intersections. One road, however, stretched out of the reach of the streetlights, and far down that way the forest pushed the houses out of the way and reached the edge of the street. It was this road that Hilary walked.

She headed straight into the woods, and when the path grew too dark for her to see she flicked on the flashlight. It lit up the path in front of her, but at the same time cast the shadows of the trees in front of her onto other trees beyond, creating an eerie effect. The whispering of the wind in the branches above had started sounding like a hiss surrounding her. Something shifted in the bushes to the side of the path, and she jumped in surprise. The beam of her light turned instantly, pointed at the bushes. The hair raised on her arms and neck, and her hand began to shake a bit. A Caterpie emerged from the brush, looked straight into her light for a moment, then proceeded to climb a nearby tree.

"I must be trying to scare myself," she gasped, holding her chest. Her heart was pounding. "Only a little kid would be afraid of a dark forest right near their house."

She pressed onwards, breathing out words of encouragement that refused to admit she was afraid to be alone in the woods in the dark. When she was certain that there was nothing in the forest that could scare her, a Spinarak decided that it would be a good time to drop down from the tree branches above and onto her head. She screamed loud enough for anyone in the forest to hear her.

The girl panicked and ran blindly down the path, not paying attention to where she was. Then, she tripped over something and was sent crashing to the ground face first. Her flashlight fell to the ground in front of her. Slowly, she rose to her knees, and grabbed her left arm. The burn had rubbed forcefully against the dirt path, and it had started hurting badly again. Tears began running down her face.

"Stop being such a baby," she commanded herself, standing up. She grabbed the flashlight from the ground and continued onwards. "If it wasn't for your fear, this would be a walk in the park. Literally."

Soon she reached a familiar part of the path where she had spent a good portion of the afternoon. However, immediately she noticed that the snare was not in place. The trap had been set off. Her flashlight was aimed upwards, and she saw what she had hoped for but did not expect. The green Sandshrew was hanging from the rope tied around its leg, flailing about in an attempt to escape.

She beamed with pride. "Hah! I finally outsmarted you, Sandshrew! Now I can be a trainer!" she laughed.

The mouse stopped struggling for a moment and stared at her in confusion. She looked back at it, and a wave of regret crashed over her. Previously she had little affection for it since, although it was the friendliest Pokémon she had ever met, she still thought that it was an ugly little rodent and the yellow-green color didn't compliment it whatsoever. But, now that it was staring at her with large, sad eyes, the only word she could think of to describe it was adorable. Had she really not felt any guilt previously at the thought of letting this poor creature remain stuck in her trap all night?

"Shwooo..." it whimpered, starting to struggle again, though it lacked the energy to do such.

"I'm sorry. This isn't right," she said, and began untying the rope. It came undone easier than it had when it was tied around her foot, and within the seconds the Sandshrew fell into her arms. She hugged it gently. "This is no way for a trainer to catch a Pokémon. You don't have a fighting chance, and it would have been beyond cruel to leave you hanging upside down all night. Ariel would be disgusted if she knew what I was doing to an innocent Pokémon like you."

Hilary then set the rodent on the ground, who gave her a puzzled look. "Sanshwoo?" it squeaked.

She wiped away her tears again. "I'll just tell Dad that you don't exist. Maybe somehow I can still convince him to let me be a Pokémon trainer. Goodbye, green Sandshrew." Hilary turned and began walking back home.

"Sansan!" it said. She turned around to see that it was starting to follow her. It had a happy expression on its face that melted her heart.

She sighed, "Now, stop that. I'm giving up my best chance at becoming a Pokémon trainer because of you. I don't need you taunting me with cuteness."

She took a few more steps, and it followed. Then she started running away from it, but it only chased after her. When she reached the edge of the woods, she turned around and it was still behind her.

"Why do you have to do this, huh?" she said, squatting so that she was closer to its level.

"Shwoooo," it responded, and moved close to her. It slowly began licking her burn clean. Tears were welling up in her eyes again, though this time it wasn't because of the pain. She couldn't believe that the green Sandshrew had become so affectionate towards her within a matter of minutes.

She stood up again and started yelling, "Listen, green Sandshrew, I'm throwing away a dream because of you! I don't want to admit it, but I am! So, can't you just leave me alone now? Why can't you get out of here? Go back to the field where all the other Sandshrew live!"

The green Sandshrew didn't understand. It stayed perfectly still except for cocking its head slightly.

"I don't want to look at you anymore!" Hilary yelled. Before it could respond, she turned around and began running. Tears were streaming down her face.

* * *

She was in the forest again. This time, however, it was day, and a mist hovered a few feet off the ground, parting slightly every time she set her foot down. The sky was completely clouded over. Everything seemed to be covered in a faint haze. Perhaps, though, that was more the work of her mind, since she couldn't remember ever being in this part of the forest before. She continued running in hopes that the path would carry her somewhere familiar.

Luck was on her side, for the path emerged on the other side of the forest. Here the ground was very barren, with the grass being tall and brittle, interrupted with large exposed patches of hard yellow earth or shrubs that would scratch her skin if she walked by them. The fog was a bit thinner here, though there was a trench where the ground descended and the fog was allowed to gather and grow thicker. She could still, however, see the railroad tracks that ran through the depression, with a wall of trees lining the other side of them. At one spot there was some charred remains of a campfire where a trainer probably had set up for the night. They likely left with one of the many Sandshrew that ran around in this field. A broken glass bottle glittered nearby it, despite the lack of a sun.

"It's awful that a trainer would be so inconsiderate, isn't it, Hilary?" someone said behind her. Hilary turned in surprise to see Ariel there, holding the green Sandshrew in her arms. Luna was hovering over her shoulder.

"Ariel!" she cried in joy, and she threw her arms around her big sister. "I've missed you so much."

"I know. That's why I came back," Ariel responded.

"So much has happened while you were gone," Hilary said, not fighting the tears this time. "Mom and Dad got divorced-"

"I know, I know! It's okay. I'm here now," Ariel said.

"Shwoo!"

Hilary let go of her sister and took the green Sandshrew from her arms. "Hey, Sandshrew! I'm so sorry about the trap."

"That's okay. It forgives you," Ariel said, smiling.

"Ariel, let me run away with you!" Hilary said. "We can be Pokémon trainers together!"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Ariel said. She started laughing, and so did Luna.

Hilary knew her face was soaked with tears. She could barely believe this was happening, that she would finally be with her sister after so long. There might have been words to describe her happiness, but she didn't know what they were.

Then, the ground was pulled out beneath her feet. She was being pulled upwards, upside down, by a rope around her ankle. It was not, however, connected to any sort of tree, and it never stopped pulling her upwards.

"Ariel!" she screamed, trying to untie herself. "Help me! I can't get it off!"

"Hilary!"

She desperately fumbled with the knot, and then the nerves in her left arm sent a message of pain to her brain. When she looked at it, she could see that there was a small flame where the burn had been made earlier. It quickly spread, and soon her entire arm was ablaze. The issue of the rope was quickly forgotten, and she attempted to beat out the flames with her remaining arm. Somehow she accomplished this, but her left arm was now completely deformed, charred and useless.

The world below her had vanished into the fog, and the only thing she could see was the sparkle of tears that fell into the swirling white mass. "Ariel!" she cried out again. This time there was no response.

Then, the knot came undone completely of its own power. Hilary began to fall headfirst towards the ground. She could see it again, and it was nothing like the world she had left. It looked like a battlefield with a Raticate fighting a Linoone and winning. When it struck the other Pokémon with its fangs, honey sprayed out instead of blood. In the stands were her mother and father and brothers and sisters and people she had never seen before except on television laughing hysterically. The ground was approaching rapidly, and mere seconds before she hit the ground her thoughts were shattered with a scream.

Hilary sat up in bed immediately. Her dreams never seemed to make any sense.

The scream, however, had not been a product of her dream but something from downstairs. She jumped out of bed and decided to investigate despite the fact that she was still in her pajamas.

Flora was standing at the front door, screaming, "There's a dead Sandshrew on the front porch! Someone get rid of it!"

Her brother Pyral had made it downstairs first. "It's not dead! See, look, you can still see it breathing."

"It's probably dying or diseased or something, though! Just look at it!" she said, still squirming.

Hilary finally reached the bottom of the stairs to see the familiar yellow-green Sandshrew curled up in a ball on the front porch. "Guys, it's the green Sandshrew!"

Flora stumbled backwards. "You're joking, right? That disgusting _thing?_"

"No, I'm not," she said, opening the door. "Were you sleeping out here all night, Sandshrew?"

The green Sandshrew's ears twitched, and it sat up quickly. "Sanshwoosan!" it squealed with delight, and jumped into her arms.

Flora and Pyral just stared at one another in disbelief. "Go wake Dad up," Flora told Pyral. He nodded and scurried upstairs.

"What are you doing here, though, Sandshrew?" she asked as if she actually expected it to respond.

It pawed at her face like young Pokémon tended to do. "Shwoosanshwoooo."

"Do you really like me that much?" she asked, hugging it to her chest.

It squeaked happily, "Sansan!"

Within a minute or so, which Hilary spent by bombarding Flora with 'I told you so's, their father began walking downstairs wearing nothing but his plain nightshirt and underwear. He ran a hand through his short and thick dark blue hair, which showed no sign of having been combed yet. He could have been very imposing towards either of them easily. His shoulders were far broader than the growing Lawrence's, was easily taller than Flora, and they knew from experience that his appetite was larger than Hilary's. He was, however, the ideal example of a gentle giant, though the only visible sign of this were the somewhat nerdy glasses he was putting on as he came downstairs. He had long since proven that he was smarter than the budding genius Pyral and kinder than either of her sweet and innocent little sisters Marinel and Starli. The worst that could be expected of him was a long lecture.

"Look, Dad! It's the green Sandshrew I've been telling you about!" Hilary said, standing up with the Sandshrew in her arms.

He rubbed eyes, half from being tired and half from disbelief. "Hilary, are you sure that Sandshrew isn't just dirty? I honestly expected something that was bright neon green."

She pouted. "Dad, really! This is the green Sandshrew!"

"We'll just see about that," he said, taking the Sandshrew from her arms.

One bath in the kitchen sink later, however, and the Sandshrew was still the same green tint.

"See, I told you!" Hilary said, drying it off with a big towel.

The entire family had woken up now. "So, you've been telling the truth the whole time?" Lawrence asked.

"Of course I've been telling the truth!" she shouted in frustration, causing them all to jump backwards.

Starli grinned. "Hey, since you caught it, does that mean you're going to be a Pokémon trainer now?"

Hilary didn't respond, but only looked up at her father hopefully. He sighed. "Now, Hilary, I said that I would let you be a trainer when you caught the green Sandshrew, but I didn't mean-"

Hilary knew exactly where the sentence was going. "Aw, come on, Dad! You know I've always wanted to be a trainer! Just please let me go!" He didn't look convinced, so she added, "I'd be a great trainer, just like you were!"

The last part had an effect. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but didn't make a sound before he closed it. Everyone was staring at him, Hilary more intently than the rest. She was still hugging the Sandshrew tightly to her chest. Finally, he sighed and responded, "Give me some time to think about it."

Hilary bit her lip. It was better than nothing. She nodded slowly. "Okay, Dad."

He laughed and grinned. "Either way, you're probably intent on keeping that Sandshrew, huh? I'll give you some money, and you can go buy some food for it at the Pokémart, okay?"

* * *

It was not much longer later when Hilary was riding to the store on her bicycle, the green Sandshrew sitting in her lap. It was a nice day, though a bit cloudier than the day before and suitable to wear her green coat, which fluttered behind her as it was caught by the wind. Instead of her white bandana, a dark purple bike helmet was on her head. As she rode, she whistled to herself a song she had heard some bicyclists singing before. There were some younger children playing kickball with a Hitmonlee in the street, but they moved aside to give her room to ride by. As soon as she passed, they resumed their game.

She rode down a street that was more dominated by the forest from the others and even today it was noticeably darker than the others. Because she was on her bike she quickly reached the other side of the forest. On her right was the field that the Sandshrews lived in, the same one which she had seen in her dream. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a small group of trainers gathered together. A Seviper and Granbull were with them. She could just barely make out the ditch with the railroad tracks and the thick forest beyond. To the left was the Pokémart, which she rode up to and parked her bicycle outside.

"Good morning!" she said as she entered, holding the Sandshrew in her arms.

The shopkeeper looked up. "Ah, you're one of the Troubadour kids, aren't you?" he asked. She nodded. "That's a funny looking Sandshrew you have there."

"I'm here to buy some food for it!" Hilary said cheerfully.

"Well, we've got plenty of that, what with the nearby field full of 'em," he said, picking up a bag. "Here we are, Pokéchow made just for a young Ground type!"

"Perfect!" she responded, pulling the money out of her pocket and exchanging it for the bag. "Thank you!"

"Anytime, miss," he said, putting the money in the cash register and handing her the change.

Hilary set the Sandshrew on the ground so she would be able to hold the bag of Pokémon food, so it began walking behind her instead. She walked to where she had left her bike only to find that it was gone, causing her to cry out in surprise.

"Where's my bike! What could have happened to it!" she asked, starting to panic.

"Sanshwoo!" the green Sandshrew said, tugging on her pant leg. It pointed towards the group of trainers they had seen earlier. One was riding back and forth on the street doing stunts on her bike while the others were laughing.

"Hey!" she called out, running up to them. "That's my bike!"

The one riding it stopped. He was wearing a baseball cap backwards and a black leather jacket, as well as a pair of shades which he took off to get a better look at the girl. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he asked, grinning.

The only girl of the group stood up. She was wearing a bright pink tank top and a blue jacket. Hilary had never seen someone with so much jewelry. Her hands were covered with rings and bracelets, three necklaces and a choker were around her neck, her ears had earrings all the way from the lobe to the top, and she even had a piercing through her eyebrow. "Looks like one of the local kids," she commented, walking towards the boy on the bike.

The rest of the group stood up and stood around the bike. The Seviper hissed at her, and the Granbull growled. The green Sandshrew, however, moved closer to her leg.

The boy replaced his shades and stood up off the bike, leaving it in the clutches of the rest of his group. "Why, so it is. What do you want, little girl?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I already told you! That's my bike, and I want it back!"

He shrugged and said, "Okay, sure. I was getting bored with it anyway."

Hilary hadn't expected that. "Really? You're going to give it back?"

"Well, yes, but first we're going to fight," he said, looking at her Sandshrew. "Pretty pathetic excuse for a Pokémon you've got there, though. Hope it fights better than it looks." The rest of the group laughed.

"I... I'm not..." she started. Normally she would have been proud to be mistaken for a trainer and never admitted that she wasn't one yet, but right now she was looking for any excuse to not fight.

"Enough talk! Granbull, Tackle!" he commanded. The dog charged forwards. Hilary shrieked and started running in the opposite direction.

The green Sandshrew was not willing to retreat, however. It kicked up some sand which hit the Granbull in the eyes. The dog stopped charging immediately and reared up. The Sandshrew stood between it and Hilary, determined to defeat the fearsome opponent.

"Sandshrew!" Hilary said as she turned around, eyes wide in disbelief.

"We're not going to get a little girl and her baby mouse beat us!" the boy shouted, enraged. "Bite it, Granbull!"

The dog leaned forward, and for a moment it appeared as if it planned to bite off the Sandshrew's head with its massive jaws. The Sandshrew, however, was frightened and curled up into a tight ball in response. The Granbull was unable to bite down on it properly as a result, and the Sandshrew was quickly spat out looking hardly worse than before the attack. The Sandshrew then uncurled and leapt at the Granbull, scratching at it with tiny but sharp claws. Little damage had been dealt.

The trainer was starting to get even angrier. "Alright, enough fooling around! Granbull, Rage!"

The Granbull, however, did not respond this time. Its tongue hung out of its mouth and it started looking sick. Hilary didn't understand until she noticed that a purple fluid had oozed from the Sandshrew's claws. It had not used Scratch, it had used Poison Sting.

"What's the matter with you, Granbull? Get that Sandshrew!" the trainer barked.

"No, stop!" Hilary cried. "I forfeit! Your Granbull's just been poisoned!"

He froze. "What?"

"If we battle any more, your Granbull could become seriously ill!" Hilary said, turning around and running back towards the Pokécenter. "Hang on, I'll be just a moment!"

The trainers all looked at one another in a complete lack of understanding. Then Hilary emerged from the Pokécenter holding a bottle. She ran up to the Granbull, who responded by snarling at her.

"Granbull, you need to drink this," Hilary said, holding up the bottle. "It'll cure your poison."

"Gran..." it growled at her, but then shuddered as the poison continued to spread. It slowly opened its large mouth open, and she poured the contents of the bottle in.

The trainer walked forward, brow furrowed. "Okay, girl, what exactly are you giving my Granbull?"

She looked up. "It's an Antidote. I bought it with the last of the money my father gave me," she said, her cheeks turning red. "Your Granbull was looking very weak. You've been battling it for a while without visiting a Pokécenter, haven't you? It wasn't going to survive the poison very long, and the nearest Pokécenter is quite a distance on foot."

The trainer was surprised. "Uh? Thanks, I think."

She stood up. "You need to take better care of your Granbull if you want him to be a good fighter!"

One of the largest members of group laughed. He was bald, and was wearing a muscle shirt that revealed a tattoo of a Tyranitar on his arm. "Oh, and what do you know about strong Pokémon, little girl? Your Sandshrew seems pretty weak to me."

"I'm not a trainer yet," she said quietly, and the group laughed.

"Well, then you don't know anything about Pokémon!" the boy with the Granbull said. "So I suppose that's up to us to teach you a lesson!"

The others laughed, catching his meaning, and a Nidorino, Shuppet, and Gligar appeared out of Pokéballs. The group began advancing towards Hilary, who backed away from the Granbull. Then, a Magneton moved between them as if to defend Hilary.

"Kids have a funny way of saying 'thank you' these days!" a familiar voice called, and Hilary turned to see her father standing outside his car. "Good thing I pass here on my way to work!"

"Dad!" Hilary called out.

"Freeze them in their tracks, Magneton! Thunder Wave!" he called out.

The Magneton beeped a few times in response. Electricity crackled around the Magneton's magnets, and then a flash of energy washed over the group of trainers and their Pokémon. Their muscles tightened on them in response. "I can barely move!" the trainer with the Granbull exclaimed.

"Now, I suggest you all make it to the nearest Pokécenter as quickly as you can," he stated, "unless you would like my Magneton to use Thunder on you."

The Magneton beeped and buzzed a bit, and electricity crackled as it charged in large amounts around the screws and magnets.

"Let's get out of here!" the girl of the group screamed, and they started running away. Their retreat was comical, however, since every now and then the paralysis would kick in and they would trip over one another. The bicycle was lying on the ground, unscratched.

Hilary ran up to her father, still holding the bag of food for her Sandshrew. "That was amazing, Dad! You really showed them!"

He knelt down to get a better look at her. "Are you alright? Those bullies didn't hurt you at all, did they?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine! And so is Sandshrew!"

The Sandshrew held up a paw. "Saaan!"

He stood up again. "Hilary, I saw the end of your battle between the Sandshrew and the Granbull. I have to say that I'm impressed."

Hilary was surprised by this, but she smiled. "I know! I knew this Sandshrew was cute, but I never expected it'd have such a natural instinct for battling-"

Her father shook his head. "No, I meant by you."

This completely caught her offguard. "Wh-what do you mean? I didn't do anything! The green Sandshrew acted completely on its own-"

"But you did stop the battle when you realized that the other trainer's Granbull was risking serious damage," he said, putting a hand on her head and messing up her hair a bit. "Some people believe that all there is to Pokémon training is battles, battles, and more battles. That's not true at all. If a trainer doesn't know how to raise their Pokémon properly, then they will never have a strong Pokémon no matter how hard they train."

Hilary looked down at her Sandshrew. "Huh? What do you mean? I thought taking good care of Pokémon was something all trainers did."

He shook his head. "Someday you'll understand that not all people think like us. I've taught you since you were very little how important it is that we live in harmony with Pokémon and treat them with care. Many people haven't had that benefit, especially in this region, and they see Pokémon as servants or even slaves."

"Aw, Dad, people aren't like that anymore," Hilary said, grinning at him. "They've started treating Pokémon better! Things have come a long way since you were a trainer."

He sighed and she could hear him say under his breath, "...so naive..." Then he recalled his Magneton and said, "Magneton and I need to get going to work, Hilary. You head home, okay?"

"Have you decided if you're going to let me be a Pokémon trainer yet?" Hilary said, letting him know that it was still the only thing on her mind.

He had already started walking back towards his car. "I'll think about it at work today, and I'll make my final decision tonight. Does that sound okay?"

She sighed and picked up her bike. From the way he had spoken to her, she had been so sure he had finally decided to let her be a trainer. "Yes, Dad, that's fine."

"Alright, then. See you then, Hilary!" he said, and the car began to move again.

"See you!" she called, and he drove off.

She sat down on her bike with the bag of Pokémon food in her lap. The Sandshrew, seeing that its seat had been taken, leapt up onto the handlebars instead. Her feet began pumping the pedals, and the bike started to carry them home.

"It's not fair," she said aloud, more to herself than the Sandshrew. "He's finally seen the potential in me to be a great trainer, but he still won't let me be one."

"Sanshwoo..." the green Sandshrew yawned.

She took a hand off the handlebars for a moment to rub the top of the Sandshrew's head. "Thank you, by the way. I don't know why you fought that Granbull for me, but if it wasn't for you I probably would have been hurt."

"San!"

She smiled. "You know, even if I don't become a Pokémon trainer, I still would like to have you as my friend."

The two were silent for the rest of the ride. They took the same route home as they had on their way there. When they passed the kids playing kickball in the street again, the Hitmonlee was at the plate. The Pokémon slammed its foot into the ball, which missed Hilary by inches and flew past her. Most of the children ran to retrieve the ball, so there were few enough people that Hilary could weave past them easily.

Soon, she arrived at her house again, and rode her bicycle into the garage. She left it off to the side, helmet hanging on the right handlebar. It would have been too difficult to move it any further into the garage, since her family, the Troubadours, were well known for their tendency to be pack rats and the garage was one of their favorite storage areas.

Then, she entered the house itself and headed straight for the kitchen. Hilary set the bag of Pokémon food on the counter before ripping it open. The green Sandshrew watched curiously as the girl took one of the cereal bowls out of the cupboard and set it on the floor. She then filled it with food from the bag, which the green Sandshrew started eating with a voracious appetite.

"I didn't think you would be _that_ hungry," she giggled, rolling up the top of the bag and setting it with the other bags of Pokémon food.

As the green Sandshrew continued eating, Hilary entered the living room to find the couch clear of her siblings. She lay down at it, looking out the large window nearby it for a while before her eyelids began to droop. Within minutes she had fallen asleep.

The green Sandshrew, having finished its meal and nothing else to do, wandered into the living room and found Hilary napping. It leapt up onto the couch and curled up next to her. Together, they slept the rest of the afternoon away.

* * *

"Hey, Hilary!" Marinel said, shaking Hilary awake.

"Can't you let me take an afternoon nap in peace for once? Go away," Hilary murmured, turning over in her sleep.

"It's not afternoon anymore, silly!" Marinel said, and Hilary slowly opened her eyes. The sun was setting, spreading a display of colors across the sky. "Get up, we're going to Mom's for dinner tonight."

Hilary sat up suddenly. "Do we have to go tonight? Dad said that he'd tell me tonight whether or not I can be a Pokémon trainer."

Marinel laughed. "And you really expect him to say yes? Come on, Hil, get ready. Mom's on her way here right now!"

"Okay," Hilary sighed. She stood up, the green Sandshrew waking up immediately and jumping down off the sofa. Then, she looked at the family computer, which was set up in the living room, and asked, "Where's Flora? Isn't this about the time she's usually on the computer?"

Marinel had been heading out of the room, but stopped and turned around just long enough to inform her sister, "Oh, Flora's been out with her boyfriend for a while. The two are going to meet up with us at Mom's later."

With that, Marinel was gone, probably to get ready to leave. "Well, there's not much I have to do to get ready anyway," Hilary said, taking a seat. "Might as well take advantage of this rare opportunity."

The green Sandshrew climbed into her lap as she typed in her user name and password. The desktop changed, and the background was replaced with a drawing of a Linoone. The green Sandshrew pawed at the screen as she opened an internet browser.

She laughed. "Oh, do you want to surf the internet, too?" Then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, you don't have a name, do you? Maybe this would be a good chance to find one. What gender are you, anyway?"

The green Sandshrew looked up at her. "Sanshwoo?"

She sighed. "Right, like you could tell me if you even knew what a gender was. Okay. Not a problem." The first page she opened was a search engine, which had an image of a Growlithe sniffing around at the top. She typed something in, and began the search, changing the image of the Growlithe into one of a Growlithe running while the word 'SEARCHING' appeared on the screen. Then, the picture of the Growlithe sat and grinned at her as a list of the results appeared.

She clicked on the first one, and the Sandshrew was still quite curious as to what she was doing and how. The white background changed to purple, and the title 'Suzie's Guides - How to Determine a Pokémon's Gender' appeared. Next to it was a picture of a miniature woman with teal hair and giant eyes, having similar proportions to those of a doll, wearing a breeder's outfit and holding up a Vulpix while a large question mark floated above her head.

"Here we go! Now let's see," Hilary said. She began reading aloud, "'Today, often the fastest and easiest way to determine a Pokémon's gender is to use a Pokédex, since these can tell you any Pokémon's gender simply by pointing at it and don't even require getting close to the Pokémon. However, not everybody has a Pokédex, especially not many breeders, so we have to do things the old-fashioned way. The one way that you can determine a Pokémon's gender, regardless of the species, is to...'" She trailed off, and her face grew bright red.

"San?" the Sandshrew squeaked, looking up at her.

"Uh, maybe that's not the only way," Hilary said, laughing nervously. She scrolled down a bit on the page. "Here we are! 'However, there are other ways to determine a Pokémon's gender that vary with each species. Below are some of the ones I have discovered in my breeding career.'" Hilary searched the list. Each had a very tiny picture of the Pokémon it referred to, so it did not take her long at all to find the notes on Sandshrew.

"Shwoo!" the Sandshrew said, pawing at the tiny picture of its species.

"'There are not many ways to tell a male and female Sandshrew apart. In fact, some breeders will say the two are identical. However, when the Sandshrew curls into a ball, the male Sandshrew comes very close to making a perfect sphere, while the hips of the female Sandshrew will bulge out slightly. Like some other female Pokémon, female Sandshrew have wider hips to accommodate for the bearing of eggs. It is easy to miss, since it invisible when they are not curled up and impossible to spot while they are rolling around, which they love to do when curled up. I have yet to find a Sandshrew that this rule does not apply to.' Huh, sounds simple enough," Hilary said, picking up the green Sandshrew. "Can you curl into a ball for me?"

"Saaan?" it asked, tilting its head slightly in confusion.

"Like this," Hilary said, setting the Sandshrew on the ground. She then curled up into a ball on her chair, though it was far from the perfect orb that Sandshrew could make. "You know, like you did earlier!"

"San!" the Sandshrew squeaked, and it curled up defensively. Hilary picked the green Sandshrew back up, and turned it over a few times in her hands. There was no mistake, the hips were bulging out some.

"So, you're a girl, then!" she exclaimed. The Sandshrew uncurled, and was promptly hugged. "My little girl Sandshrew! Now all we need is a name for you."

The Sandshrew sat in her lap as she had before, and Hilary returned to the search page and typed in something new, again clicking on the first result. The background went from dark purple to a pastel shade, and 'POKÉMON NAMES' appeared in large, colorful letters at the top. On either side was a Pokéball, one pink and one light blue. There were also baby Pokémon surrounding the words, consisting of Pichu, Smoochum, Magby, Elekid, and Azurill. Below this, there was a list of search options, each with one of the baby Pokémon next to it. She selected 'female' next to the Smoochum. It didn't take her long to think of a meaning, and she typed 'green' next to the Azurill. She hit the search button, which was marked by the picture of the Elekid, and looked at the results.

"Let's see. Emerald and Jade are nice. How about one of those?" The Sandshrew responded with a sour look on its face. "Huh? Guess not. What about Beryl? Or maybe Phyliss?" This response was a bit more positive. "Mm, getting closer, but I don't like those much either." She skimmed the rest of the list.

"Sanshwoo," the Sandshrew said, lounging a bit more in her lap.

"I dunno, Sandshrew. None of these names are that great, so let's try something else. What else would be a fitting thing for your name to mean?" Hilary thought aloud, looking at the Sandshrew. Then, she snapped her fingers. "I know! You love honey, so let's start with that!"

The green Sandshrew squealed with delight, and Hilary replaced the word 'green' with 'honey'. She looked through the list that appeared. "Hey, these ones aren't too bad. So, if you were okay with the names Beryl and Phyliss, then maybe you would like the name Melissa?"

The green Sandshrew's eared perked up. "San san! Sanshwoo san!" it cried, suddenly having trouble holding still.

"Ah, so you like that name? Well, there we go! Your name is Melissa!" Hilary said, hugging the Sandshrew. "It actually refers to a Beedrill that collects honey, not the honey itself, but that's okay. You're as fierce as a Beedrill, anyway!"

"Shwoo!"

She turned her head at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. A quick glance out the window was all that she needed to confirm who she already suspected it was. "Hey, guys! Mom's here!" she called to the rest of the house.

Within seconds her siblings came pouring downstairs to greet their mother. The woman who stepped out of the green minivan that had just arrived was quite lanky. Her magenta hair was thin and straight, and it hung limply over her pale skin which was only broken by a dark freckle here and there.

Hilary quickly logged off the computer and was the last one to go outside to greet their mother. She held the green Sandshrew in her arms, and the first thing she said to her mother was, "Look! Dad's gonna let me keep this Pokémon!"

Her mother looked surprised. "What? Oh, he is, is he? Well, I'm not letting that in my house. It's filthy!"

Starli laughed. "No, it's not! Dad gave it a bath this morning!"

Hilary nodded. "It's the green Sandshrew I've told you about, Mom! I named her Melissa just now!"

Melissa held up a paw. "Sanshwoo!"

The woman's eye twitched. "And you _like_ that thing?"

She grinned. "I love her!"

Their mother sighed, and all Hilary could hear was, "...at least the Zubat was sort of cute..."

Hilary pouted. "Mom, can't you just give her a chance?"

"I'm going to have to, considering you'll never forgive me if I don't," her mother responded, laughing a bit, though it was more awkward than the laugh of a person who was actually amused. "Come, my little ones! It is time to eat."

They all climbed into the minivan, and soon they were off. Lawrence had his Plusle and Minun in his lap, but neither of them were quite as excited as Melissa, who had never been in a moving vehicle before. Their mother talked with her children for the most of the ride, and Hilary sat listening to their chatter while the green Sandshrew pawed at the window and watched the trees and houses and other cars blur by.

"You're being awfully quiet tonight, Hilary," her mother remarked at one point. "Is there something on your mind?"

Hilary didn't respond. There was a tense silence in the minivan for a moment.

"I'm almost afraid to ask this, but," the woman started, "being allowed to care for that green Sandshrew isn't giving you ideas about being a Pokémon trainer again, is it?"

Hilary's response came at last, though it was barely above a whisper. "What's wrong with that?"

There was no way to soften the impact that the words were going to have. A harsh tone entered the woman's voice. "Hilary, will you stop with that nonsense? I won't let you be a Pokémon trainer until you're older, if at all! And that's final! Do I make myself clear?"

She was quiet. There wasn't any point in arguing with her mother. The only person who stood a chance at that would not be returning home from work for a few more hours.

Her mother took the silence as a form of submitting and nodded. "Good. I never want to discuss this again."

* * *

Hilary couldn't find her appetite that night. Normally she would have been devouring the food since no frozen lasagna could ever compare to a home cooked meal. Now all she could do was poke at it with her fork and nibble on a grain of rice every now and then while her eyes remained focused on the clock. Her father was coming home soon, or perhaps was home already. She could only wonder what would happen.

"Hilary, will you get this Sandshrew out of here?" her mother snapped. "It's taking a nap on the clean laundry!"

Hilary stood up and walked to where Melissa was curled up contently on a pile of neatly folded clothing fresh from the dryer. "C'mere, you," she said, slowly lifting up her Pokémon. The Sandshrew yawned and blinked its eyes open. She returned to her seat at the dining room table, the Sandshrew sitting in her lap this time. The others watched as she seemed completely unaware of her Pokémon eating her dinner.

"Uh, Hilary, Melissa's-"

"I know," she said, as the green Sandshrew's appetite picked up and grains of rice started flying off the plate. "I'm not that hungry tonight, anyway."

Her brothers and sisters passed a confused look around the table; Hilary was always hungry, and they knew it. They were about to inquire further when the phone rang.

"You keep eating, I'll get that," their mother said, walking to the video phone. She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

They could all just barely see the image of their father on the other screen. "Hello. I suppose the kids are eating dinner there?"

The woman twitched. "Yes, they are. Hello, Larry." Lawrence looked up a moment, having been the only one who wasn't paying attention to the phone call. They had learned a long time ago that the boy was named after his father. "What do you want this time?"

"You know that Hilary has had her heart set on becoming a Pokémon trainer, right?"

"How could I not?" she sighed. "In fact, I was just saying to her on the ride here-"

"Anita, I've decided to allow her to leave." Hilary's eyes widened and she looked around at her siblings. Their mouths were all hanging open in surprise. An awed silence filled the room.

"Are you nuts!" their mother yelled, shattering the silence at last. "She's still too young! She'd never-"

He seemed to be intent on not letting her finish a sentence. "I've already out the forms and everything. She can go pick up a Pokédex and a starter Pokémon from Professor Willow tomorrow."

"I won't stand for this, Larry! You're not going to let my daughter wander off into the world alone and be killed!" Their mother was starting one of her rampaging rants again.

"Anita, there's a reason the age limit for starting as a Pokémon trainer is ten years old. I saw her green Sandshrew battling against a gang today, and up until the point where they started cheating it was doing an amazing job! And Hilary demonstrated a knowledge of Pokémon far beyond what I thought she had! The two are going to make an incredible pair!"

"That's not the point! This is a dangerous world, especially for a little girl! The fact that there was a gang that cheated is the problem, not how Hilary and her Pokémon responded!"

"I believe Hilary can handle whatever this world can throw at her," he stated in a voice that indicated he was wrapping up the argument quickly, "and that's why I'm going to be paying for the whole thing."

There was a long pause. "What?"

"You heard me."

Even their mother could not deny the persuasive power of money. "Alright, but by doing this you're also taking responsibility for whatever happens to Hilary!"

The children were all in complete and total disbelief. Hilary could feel her appetite returning quickly.

"Absolutely, Anita," their father said. "I'll bring her to Professor Willow's first thing tomorrow. You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll talk to you later."

"Goodbye, Larry," she said, slowly hanging up the receiver. She shook her head slowly. "I can hardly believe I'm saying this: Hilary, I think you should go gather up your things so you'll be ready for tomorrow."

"Yes! Thank you, Mom!" Hilary said, leaping out of her chair and giving her mother a large hug. "Lemme just finish my dinner first!"

"I think it's a bit too late for that," Pyral remarked.

"What do you mean?" Hilary said, then noticed that Melissa was sitting on the floor after being knocked from Hilary's lap when she sat up. There was rice all over her face, as well as on the table and floor. There was not, however, any left on Hilary's plate, and neither was any other food. "Hey!"

* * *

Hilary was up early the next morning. She sat beside the small pond that was right outside their mother's house. It was filled with enormous pink lotuses, most of which were the same size as Hilary's head or even bigger, as well as lily pads the size of dinner plates. Melissa sniffed one of the closer flowers carefully before she lost her balance and tumbled into the pond. She landed on an unusual looking lily pad, which rose out of the water and carried her back to shore. The lily pad had revealed itself to be a Lotad, and after the green Sandshrew hopped off onto dry land it quickly scrambled back into the water. The Sandshrew was curious, so she hopped back in, this time landing on top of the largest pad in the water. This one raised up as well, but it was a Lombre instead of a Lotad. Melissa was scared of this one instead of curious, and scrambled back into Hilary's arms as quickly as she could.

Hilary was sitting on a large rock positioned almost perfectly to be in the shade of the largest tree by the pond. Her messenger bag was hanging over one shoulder. With this and the Sandshrew in her lap, she looked a lot like a trainer already.

"What a day," she said to herself. "I couldn't imagine a more perfect day to start Pokémon training."

There was reason behind her words considering it was a gorgeous day, almost the same as it had been on the day Ariel left. The sun was shining with only a few tiny clouds to attempt to block it, and the air smelled a bit fresher than usual. The lush trees were everywhere, filling the view with every shade of green one could imagine. Across the street from her a larger pond was found, this one lacking the enormous lotuses but making up for it with other vegetation. Several Psyduck swam around in one corner of the pond, and in the deeper middle a Golduck was diving for plants that grew on the bottom of the pond. Off to the side a Slowpoke was napping with its tail hanging in the water. It woke up suddenly and walked forward to reveal a Wooper on the end of its tail. With a few shakes the Wooper fell back into the pond with a plop and the Slowpoke went back to napping. Overhead a Wingull flew by headed from the bay which was located some distance behind her and to some unknown destination. A few more followed and then a Pelipper dove down from the group and scooped something out of the water into its massive beak. It began flying upwards again, but it didn't get far before a Goldeen flopped its way out of the Pelipper's mouth.

"It's an amazing world we live in," Hilary said, watching the interaction between these creatures and the environment around them.

Melissa looked up at her, not understanding what she had just said. The little Sandshrew decided to let it be, however, and leaned back into her owner.

An approaching car caught her attention, and Hilary stood up with the green Sandshrew in her arms. "Here comes Dad. Soon I'll be a Pokémon trainer, and we can travel the world together. Isn't it exciting?"

The green Sandshrew seemed to understand this time. "Sanshwoo!" she squealed.

Hilary grinned. Exciting wasn't enough to describe how eager she was to be a Pokémon trainer, but she didn't know a better word. It would have to do.


End file.
